I'm finishing an article

Towards the end of the 1/24/87 "Science News,"

"Growing 'Brains' in a Computer,"

As I'm eating some squiz.  

The name Terrence Sejnowski comes up

In the context of a neural network model

That is teaching itself to read

And pronounce sentences.  

I've heard of Terry often before,

But not this neural network model.  

But I realize I've seen his name quite recently ‑‑

Probably, as the slippery memory yields tantalizing clues,

In some book or periodical that I possess

And in which I have just gotten

To where his name comes up.  

Try as I might, though, I can't place where that is.  

I finish the article

And with it the issue

But still have half‑a‑squiz to go,

So I go in the den

And retrieve the next thing to read

From the stack of periodicals.  

It's the May, 1986 "Science 86,"

Which I had finally gotten to

Maybe a month ago,

But then had to put back on the stack

As some higher priority items came in.  

I open the magazine to where I had left off

And it's an article called "Mindworks,"

Which I had gotten to but not started.  

Apparently I had at least read the first two words

For they are "Terry Sejnowski".  

The article starts out by describing

His work with "NETtalk,"

A machine that is learning to read aloud.